Projectile



L. J. BARTHELJEMY.

PROJECTILE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-16,1918.

Patented Mar. 9,1920.

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Be, it known that 1', Louis I; BARTHEL MY, a citizen of'the United States, residing at San Juan, Porto Rico; have invented certain new and; useful "Improvements in 'Proj'ectiles, of Wlii'ch'the fol-lowingisja specifica tion. i

This invention relates; to projectiles, and lQre particularly to" a; "projectile specially adapted tor attacking subiiiari'n, vessels; and other objects: beneath 1 ,he surface, "of

- 'One 'offthe main objects of thedinveiition is to provide 2t projectile of simple construeti'on and operation w en not hate-"its direction of traxiet "in:iterigrlh alteredflhy striking the surfttce of'the; when A further object is to provided projectile having a guide extending about and in front of i the projectile edapte d; to engage the Water, this casing beinghollow so asto perniit water to. enter it thus preventing d-efiection or glancing of the projectile due; to its Striking the water; Further objects will appear from the detaileddescription.

In the drawingsz' Figure 1- is a side View of a projectile constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig; 2 is a cent-rel longitudinal section.

Fig. 3 is a sectiontsken substantially on line of Fig; 2'.

" The projectile provided: with the cylindri'cal body 1" the forwardend' of which is recessed anddnteri'orly threaded to receive the threaded-neck 2- of the forwardlytaperingfhead; 3 secured therein. Head pros vided, with an axial bore 45in the outer portion of which is mounted atube 5'. Tliis tube is provided'at its out-erend with an outer-snnul'ar shoulder 6- .which is exteriorly threaded and is threaded into the outer endothead 3, the head being providedwith a threaded recess concentric 'ivith bore 4-fiq'rthis ur- P se Tubs 'i' eder edflt r e a in m ger axdlsk-like heed Setits out d,-t1 s p .uns r b g n r a y he ojutw ardl By a (nil-expansion spring- 9 wees-useless is 15-51-51; I

- pe fi e ee i mi en lste t; Patented Mam-.9, 1920;. I Application filed lf ehruery 16, 191s." Serial K0; 217,591.

gages a rimer- 10? which is secured in the inner en [Offiflbfl 5.

Body 1' rovided' with a central cavity 11 which is a epted to, contain the explosive charge 12. A'screw plug-13 is secured in the Base of body 1 so asto permit the explps ive charge to'he inserted nto the same. ortioir'if'bore l of head 3 provides a clia er which adapted to content a cher e 11 'ef'eny' comparatively s'lowly'hurning 'Xplosi'vegflthis charge actingas a fuse tdcha'rge; -'Io revent n1i-xtuieofithe maincherge andthe fuse charge, m g-fo ms disk 15 is mounted intermedi; ate the"en' d 0fneck'2 andthe for-ward end (if-"the explosive, chamber 11, an annulershou-lder being formed adjacent the innet end of'e'hember I} by forming an annular recess at the inner-end of this chamber, this shoulder and the. inner end of neck- 2 acting to secure 'thefd-isk in position.

The'head 3 adjacent the body 1 is shaped to, provide a straight portion 3* which is threaded to'receivee threaded shoulder 1'6 provided at the inner end oi a cylindrical guardand'i guide casing 17. This'casing is disposed concentric with head" 3 and proj'ectsforwardly of-tlie same. The guidecasing- 17' is provided with e plurality' of openings orslots 18 which are of spiral or helicalcurvature. These slots arepositioned? in aline'inentwith grooves 19- formed in; the face of head 3, these grooves being also of helical curvature.

In using this projectile, the plunger 7' is not inserted into'sl'eeve 5 until it isdesired to fire the-projectile from a gun. When the projectile leaves-the gun, the pressure of the air on disk 8' will be sulli'cient to pieventthe plunger from falling out of the tube 5, it being understood that this plunger tits snugly in the tube so as tobe held therein frictional-17in the event that the gun is tilteddojvnwardly', this: friction grip be; tw n the plunger and the tube not being sufficient prevent or in my way interfere i .p1' p 1"bperati n t Plunge he manner; to he deserihed the'projee tis ietwsnghinush h th new sion 9- ountei ects 'the-stmospherie 100 3, escaping through the slots 18. This cylin der of .ivater; within the casing-will,- to a great extent, counter-act the tendency of .the projectile to glance or be deflected by the water suchas occurs in projectiles ofordinary construction. Also,,the' helical grooves 19 formedin the head will grip the water as t he projectile passes through the; same,

-. due t othe fact that the projectile is rotated at, l1iglr speed.v during its advancement. These grooves actto materially reduce the resistanceof the water to the passage of the projectile, and also serve to maintain the projectilein substantially itsioriginal direction 9f, ,travel.. When the'- h ead S .,-of the plunger 7. strikes the water, the plunger. will be forced ginwardly against the resistance ofspring) 'sufiiciently to engage the primer 10 ,,th,us igniting the fuse char e 14..- wThis results in exploding the mainc ar 'ein the body of ,thexshell. Then the pro ectile is thusexploded, very great pressure 'w-ilLbe exerted by -the force of the explosion on the 3 submarine :boat, ora torpedo, if-the projectile: is fired at the latter. -As -is well known, the result of this sudden pressure will be to cause explosion of thextorpedo, or probable 1 destruction of the submarine boat, in the same manner as the depth bombs now eonunonly used.- This projectile renders :it possible to fire directly. at a submarine boat the .periscope of which may be visible in the same manner as if the boat were on the surface of the water, the guide casing. serving to prevent any material deviation of the projectile from its original direction of travel.

While I have shown the head. 3 as being providedwith the helical grooves 19, it may not be necessary under all conditions to have .these grooves, as the casing 17 serves to prevent deflection of the projectile, the main object of the grooves being to reduce the resistance offered by the water to the passage of the projectile through the same, these grooves also acting to a certain extent to hold the projectile to its original path or direction of travel.

It will also be evident that any suitable fuse can be used in place of the fuse charge shown and described. If

- desired, a time fuse of standard construction for igniting the main explosive charge may be provided thus permitting the pro- .j'ecti 1e to be timed to explode at 'a given dis tance or depth. It will be evident that there may be slight changes made in the construction and arrangement of the different parts of my invention vwithout.departing from the field and scope of the sani end I intend to include all such variations, as fall within the scope of the appended claims in this application in 'whichapfefrred form only of my invention is disclosed.

What I claim is: "1. The combination with a projectile hav- '.ing a body and a forwardly tapering head secured therein, said, head being provided with radially disposed helical grooves, of a cylindrical casin secured to theghead. in concentric spacec t-relation therewith. and projectingforwardly, of the same, saidcasing being provided. with radially disposed slots for permitting theescapement-of water through the same when the projectileis passing through water.

2. The combination with a projectile having a body and a forwardly, tapering head secured therein, said-head. being provided with radiallydisposed helical grooves, ofa casing secured to the head in concentric sp aced .relation therewith ,and projecting forwardly. 0fthe same, g s aid, casing being provided with radially 'xlisposed slots ,po-

sitioned in alineinent with said-grooves.

3. A projectile having firing means and-a recess leading thereto, a. plunger movable in said recess againstsaid firing means upon impact, and said vplunger:normally engaging the wall of the. recess friction tight to prevent accidental detachment of the plunger in case the projectile travels-downward.

.. 1. A projectile having firing means and a recess leading thereto, a plunger. movable in said recess against said;firing .rneans upon impact, said plunger normally engaging the wall of the recess friction tight to prevent accidental detachment of the plunger in case the projectile travels doWnward, said plunger having a head to provide a relatively large water-engaging surface, and a spring intermediate the two heads to resist accidental inward movement.

. 5. A projectile having a'body, a head extending from the body, one of said parts having a neck screwv threaded into, the other, each part having an explosive chamber, a separator between said chambers clamped in place by said neck, and firing means in communication with one of said chambers. I

6. A projectile having a bodymember, a head member, one 'of saidmembers having a neck screw threaded into the other, said members having communicating. explosive chambers, a separator for said chambers, said separator being clamped against the body by said neck, a .casing screwgthreadedfio theiex terior of said headandat its inner endabut- Wardly, a sleeve screw threaded into the ex plosive chamber of the head, said sleeve having firing means therein, a plunger movable in the recess of said sleeve against the firing means upon impact, said plunger normally engaging the wall of the sleeve friction tight to prevent accidental displacement of the plunger in case the projectile travels downwardly, said plunger having a relatively large water engaging head and a 10 spring intermediate both heads to resist accidental inward movement of the plunger.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LOUIS J. BAR-THELEMY. Witnesses:

H. BITHAM, V. DIAZ COLLAZE. 

